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Friday, February 25, 2011

Salmon and Spinach Lasagna

I always wanted to cook a lasagne with fish and spinach.
I remember eating one years ago that was so good...
At least back then I thought it was.
Looking through the internet for recipes i found this for "Dill-Licious Salmon and Spinach Lasagne".

I liked it because they are using dill and white wine and two different kinds of cheese...
All of that works pretty well with spinach and fish.
Unfortunately I didn't have a proper sized casserole.
Mine was too big.
Therefore the lasagna turned out quite thin and a bit dry.
Even though I'm not sure if that was the only reason for the dryness.
After all I can say the lasagna was ok.
But a few things were still missing.

I want lasagna to be creamy and rich.
This one wasn't.
Also the flavors were quite bland.
it mainly tasted sour because of the lemon and the wine.
Therefore next time I might put cream and eggs in the creme fraiche sauce to give it more substance.
Or just make a bechamel adding dill, onions and nutmeg and white wine.
And I will replace the mozzarella or take at least a third and stronger cheese.

Oh, and I won't cook the salmon before.
Otherwise it gets too dry.
I'll just marinate it a bit, cut it into small pieces before adding it to the other ingrediences.

It'll cook in the oven anyway...

Dill-Licious Salmon and spinach Lasagna

What you need:

For Salmon

500gfresh salmon fillet

350ml white wine

60g fresh dill

1 lemon, sliced

2 garlic gloves, slightly crushed

For Creme Fraiche Sauce

250g creme fraiche

3-4 green onions, sliced thin

115g pimientos, drained and roughly chopped

0,6gfresh grated nutmeg

For Lasagna

200gwashed baby spinach

450glasagna noodles

120g grated parmesan cheese

470g shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C.Pour wine into a wide shallow sauce pan, add lemon, garlic and about half of the dill (whole stems will work best), and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a low simmer, add salmon, and poach until cooked through, turn once if liquid does not cover fish.Set salmon aside, and allow to cool. Remove dill sprigs, lemon slices, and garlic, increase heat to high, and reduce poaching liquid to 1/2 cup.Thin creme fraiche with reduced cooking liquid to a drizzle-able sauce consistency. Stir in green onions, pimientos, nutmeg, and the other half of the dill minced fine, and salt and pepper to taste. Flake salmon into generous bite size pieces with a fork or fingers. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.Lightly oil the bottom of a 22x32cm baking dish. Layer 1/3 each of pasta, spinach leaves, salmon, sauce, and cheeses. Finish with cheeses on top.Bake about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly, and cheese is melted.Allow lasagna to cool slightly and set up before slicing and serving. Enjoy!